The PA Report has confirmation from Microsoft Game Studios that Halo 4 is not coming to the PC, which isn't too surprising considering Halo 3 was never ported to the PC either. What's a little odd is the explanation, as a spokesperson tells them: "Halo 4 was designed specifically for Xbox 360, and while we’re always exploring new ways to expand the franchise and share the Halo experience with as many fans as possible, we do not currently have any plans to port Halo 4 to PC."

Anyway, another good reason to hate Halo is because it popularized two really annoying mechanics that you now see in almost every shooter: regenerating health/shields and two-weapon limits.

Disagree. There is a different design philosophy involved when considering medpack health restoration versus regenerating health, but that does not make one inherently better than the other. A lot of people dislike the regening health because it flies in the face of the "run-and-gun" dynamic so many of us got used to in early FPS's, but it is simply a matter of preference. I think the idea of instant health pack effects is utterly ridiculous - how does it make any more sense than magical re-filling health bars? People will often say that games with regenning health require less skill, and that's fine - maybe they do. I just know I don't care - I can enjoy a well-made game that utilizes either reality-deying mechanic.

I also think weapon limits force tough choices, which makes for a better game (though 2 does seem a bit too restrictive). In arcade shooters no one minds that dude is carrying enough weaponry to arm a country, but in more "reality-based" shooters some logic needs to be applied. I really liked the way Mass Effect showed how your four weapons were stored on your back for example.

My preference of health mechanic has nothing to do with realism and everything to do with the impact it has on gameplay. Simply put, regenerating health undermines the significance of getting hit. You can essentially get hit an infinite number of times. You just have to make sure you have sufficient breaks between hits. It completely ruins the intensity of gun battles when I know I can just take cover for a few seconds and completely heal myself as many times as I want. When you have finite health replenishment systems, every hit counts because taking damage in one fight means you'll have less health for the next.

As for weapon limits, they don't really force tough choices because nine times out of ten, you'll just stick with the most practical weapons instead of trying out other ones, whereas being able to carry more than two weapons leaves more room for experimentation and risk-taking.